


Bisexual Agreements

by Angelgod187



Series: The Davis Investigation (Part 1) [7]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Gavin Reed is a Mess, Jealousy, M/M, Nines is not a super happy camper at first, Some Plot, Tags Are Hard, hard conversations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:14:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25015306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelgod187/pseuds/Angelgod187
Summary: Nines discovers something surprising about his partner.Connor comes to Gavin for needed advice.
Relationships: Hank Anderson/Connor, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: The Davis Investigation (Part 1) [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790206
Comments: 1
Kudos: 67





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello once again! 
> 
> Nothing really to call out. Last chapter of this sets up the next story, which is a little detour so that'll be fun!
> 
> This whole series, including this little story, was beta'd by the wonderful [WickedWon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedWon/pseuds/WickedWon)! Please go check out their stuff as well! 
> 
> Now, on to the show!

“You arrest a… Robert Davis?” Hank asked one morning nearly four weeks after ‘the incident’, glaring at his computer screen. 

“Yes. Murdered his children in a case me and Gavin worked on almost five months back. Why?” He didn’t have to ask why. He knew why but humans needed the ability to voice their thoughts. 

“Got an email about his pending trial, saying you and Gavin are needed to testify in court tomorrow.”

Nines nodded, “indeed. I got the request last night.”

“Seems fairly cut and dry. Guy confessed, didn’t he?”

Nines couldn’t help the way his LED flicked red, or the way Hank’s eyes darted up to it in surprise. 

“Oh shit, what happened?”

“Gavin didn’t read Mr. Davis his Miranda rights during the arrest. His confession was made during that time.”

Hank groaned, slapping a hand over his eyes. “Fucker is too eager for his own good, I swear to God.” Hank kept reading through his email. “Looks like it might take a few days? Old partners are being reinstated till then.”

“Gavin was very happy to wake up to the email as well,” Nines said with a knowing smile. 

Hank leaned back in his chair. “Leaving at noon?”

“To have lunch with the district attorney, yes,” Nines filled in. “We should be back by Thursday, by my calculations. Everything will then go back to this new norm.”

“Good to know. Thanks for the heads up, Nines,” Hank said sincerely.

“Of course, Hank. You have my number, let me know if you need anything.”

As noon rolled closer, Nines felt green eyes on him from across the bullpen. He ignored them, wrapping up his current case notes. It was looking more and more like a murder suicide the longer he looked at it. Hank and Nines’ case was higher profile, taking priority over Connor and Gavin’s. He added a few follow up questions for witnesses and pointed to spotty pictures that would need a second look at the residence. All of which had been planned before the notice for trial had been called for last night. 

“Ready, tin can?” Gavin asked just as Nines was finishing the data transfer. 

“Yes, Gavin. We are meeting the district attorney at your little cafe, correct?”

“Yup. Haven’t worked with him before some… Alex Goldsmith? Must be new.”

Nines smiled to himself, getting to his feet. “I’ll see you again in a few days, Lieutenant.”

“Have fun,” Hank bid, Connor already at his side, eager to get started with his ex-partner. 

The walk was quiet between the two, a block down to the left. Gavin ordered a panini and squash soup, Nines finding a larger than normal table to accommodate them and their guest. Gavin returned with the archaic table number, sitting down with a huff. 

“Remember that night?” Gavin asked, playing with the metal stand, spinning the number around. 

“I can recall everything perfectly, Gavin,” Nines reminded. “Could show you right now if I wanted too.”

He sat back with a huff. “Yeah, ok fucking show off.”

“Detectives Reed and Nines?” A woman's voice asked on approach to them. 

Nines got to his feet with a smile, recognizing the newly appointed district attorney. “That’s us. Hello, Alexandria, it’s nice to meet you.”

She smiled bright, mocha eyes squishing a little with it. 

“Alex, please!” 

They shook hands. Alex shifted down to a clearly shocked Gavin, who needed a moment to catch up. Nines caught the look on his partner’s face, processors straining for a moment under the ugly twist of emotions at seeing his dazed expression. The look of wonder in Gavin’s eyes was unmistakable. He was clearly caught in Alex’s beauty. 

Nines hadn’t taken into account when he did his research of Ms. Goldsmiths physical attractiveness, or how any man, including his own, would react to it. It was a gross oversight on his part, unprepared for Gavin’s reaction. 

It took Nines a moment to find a name for this new ugly emotion in him, watching Gavin scramble to take the lawyers hand. 

Jealousy. 


	2. Chapter 2

Gavin would be lying if he said he was gay. He was Bi and would be till the day he died. What? He didn’t like limiting himself.

He currently had a male partner, yes, but he’d had women in the past as well. Neither men nor women liked how he’d always put his work first. The late nights and early on, the drinking to handle what he found at crime scenes. He dated a woman before Nines, fucking cunt licker left him for some wild life ‘expert’ down in Florida. Whatever, Gavin didn’t need her anyway. 

Gavin kicked himself a little, not thinking with Alex was a gender neutral name. He made the mistake of defaulting the gender of the lawyer to male, fuck him and his biases. 

Alex was taller than him in her smart looking heels, when he scrambled to his feet to shake her hand. Her long dark brown hair, not dissimilar to Nines’, was pulled into a tight, professional bun at the top of her head. Her makeup was minimal but done well, exaggerating her eyes to make them pop. Her pants suit was navy blue and white, a smart color combination that both slimmed and cut her curves sharper. 

“If you don’t mind, I’ll go order real quick,” she said, grabbing her phone. “Be right back.”

“The sandwiches are great here,” Gavin called out stupidly. 

She paused, digested what he said and smiled. “Great! I was already planning on getting one,” she said, going and getting in line. 

Gavin froze when he turned around, the mechanical, fake expression on Nines’ face far more alarming than the startling red LED. The human thawed, sitting up in his seat. “Nines, you ok? What’s wrong?”

“You find her attractive,” Nines said bluntly, voice toneless. 

Gavin flinched. “I mean, I find some people attractive, sure.”

“You find her attractive,” Nines repeated, leaning in a little. “You flirted with her.”

Gavin wasn’t sure if he could die on the spot but he sure wished he could right about now. “I didn’t flirt!” He hissed, anger rising with his embarrassment. 

Ice eyes glared pure blue fire, the android moving a single arm onto the table to lean on it a little. The table protested loudly. “Can I trust you not to fuck this case anymore that you already have?” 

Gavin was a little taken aback hearing Nines curse in public. Nines was sure to put on the prim and proper act until they were alone in the apartment together. Yet he couldn’t hide how upset he was, posture stilted and movements stiff. 

Then Gavin registered what it was Nines had said. “Fuck you, Nines,” he spit, leaning over the table as well. “Fuck you for even bringing it up!”

“Can you be professional long enough to give a proper statement? Be cross examined by Mr. Davis’ lawyer with Alex sitting in the same room as you?”

Gavin wished he could stand up and walk away. He didn’t want to do this in public, but he was stuck, rage nowhere to go but out his mouth. “I don’t want to hear this shit from you. I wasn’t fucking fliriting and I can damn well do my fucking job!”

Nines sat back, expression changing instantly to a fake pleasant expression. “Where would you like to sit?”

Alex reappeared, a similar table number in hand. She grabbed for her bag, left on the chair next to Gavin. “I’ll actually sit next to you, Nines, if you don’t mind?”

“Of course,” Nines jumped his chair to the side, giving Alex marginally more room at the table. She pulled a tablet out of her briefcase, handing it to Nines.

“These are some helpful tips for when you take to the stand, as I understand you haven’t done so before?”

“That is correct.”

“Let me know if you have any questions,” she said, turning to Gavin. 

“Sure,” Nines said, gently taking hold of her tablet. 

“34?” Gavin looked up with a smile, the waiter putting his food down. “Yours will be out shortly, ma’am.”

“Thank you,” Alex said with a blinding smile. Gavin blinked, heart picking up a little. He looked down at the table, ignoring the glare over top the tablet Nines was giving him.

“After lunch, Detective Reed,” Alex started suddenly. He straightened, eyes locking with hers. “I would like to give a bit of a briefing on working with what Nines says while on the stand, to strengthen your testimony. We believe that for human jurors, it's important a human still take the stand, no matter with perfect android recall. We might be able to optimize you both to fully nail Mr. Davis.”

Gavin nodded dumbly. “Sure, makes sense.”

“How long have you been a lawyer?” Nines asked, handing the tablet back to Alex. 

“Going on thirteen years now. Glad to finally be doing something like this, even if there is far less money in it. Can die with a clean conscience and all that,” she said, a wistful smile on her lips. 

“Sounds familiar,” Gavin snorted, grabbing for his food. 

“The want to do some good?” Nines asked. 

“The lack of money,” Alex corrected the android, winking at Gavin who forced food into his mouth to keep from blushing. He looked down at the table, trying to avoid Nines’ cold glare the best he could. What the fucking hell was wrong with him today?

“He could probably be a personal investigator and make ten times more. Have to work a little outside the law to do it, but people will pay big money to have pictures of their spouses cheating with the pool boy,” Alex explained.

Gavin bubbled out a fake little laugh, horrified that he was reacting at all. “Always the pool boy,” he said around his food.

“42?” The food runner was back.

“Yes, thank you!” Alex accepted her food, tucking in right away.

The humans fell quiet as they ate, one feeling as if he were under the microscope. Nines had his arms perfectly poised on the table, none of his weight applied to the surface. His fingers were interlace, ice blue eyes staring Gavin down. There was a promise of future conversation in ice blue eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Uh-huh… How many other women, Gavin?”
> 
> “Does it matter? It didn’t matter before.”

“Thank you for that,” Alex said, shutting the booklet used as reference for the cross examination points Nines would face with his far more detailed recollective capabilities. 

“That’s all I needed from you two. Remember, I’m here to put the murderer away. Same as you.”

“Working towards the same goal,” Nines agreed. 

“I’ll walk you two down,” Alex said, waving her hand for them to follow. 

Nines kept his distance from Gavin, walking next to Alex, asking her mindless questions of the office that were all public knowledge, more than easy for him to look up. She was genuinely excited to explain her office, the work the people were doing to bring others in or close cases. Alex had an energy about her, commanding and confident. No wonder Gavin reacted to her so strongly. 

“I called a taxi to take you back to the station,” Alex said. “The trial starts at nine in the morning. Please, don’t be late to the court house.”

“Be there at eight fifty,” Nines rephrased happily, leading Gavin out by the small of his back. “Thank you, Alex. HAve a great rest of your day.”

“You too!”

The taxi pulled up with perfect timing, both hopping in. Gavin’s leg immediately started tapping when he took his seat, clearly uncomfortable. 

Might as well jump into it, Nines thought. “Do you want--”

“Not till we’re home, ok?” Gavin snapped. Mint met ice, the distance between them in the car feeling more like a gaping chasm than a scant few inches. Nines wasn’t used to this feeling. He didn’t like the way Gavin pulled himself as far away from Nines as he could. Nines systems, no matter how advanced, couldn’t tell if Gavin was upset with himself or Nines, but he was distancing himself to try and remove himself from the problem. 

“Do you want to pick up dinner? I’ll pay,” Nines asked quietly as they switched to Gavin’s vehicle at the station. A peace offering. He’d cooled off a lot since lunch. Nines saw the error of his irrational rage against the very obvious attraction Gavin, and every other male around Alex, presented. Just because his body reacted, didn’t mean he was dropping Nines and moving on. It was all irrational. He sat through Gavin’s portion of the briefing processing his emotions, calming himself down. He felt like a proper fool by the end.

“Not hungry,” Gavin mumbled, still tapping away, refusing to look at Nines. Gavin hadn’t had the same time to decompress, still in the thick of his emotions. 

The ride home was worse than the taxi, Gavin covering his eyes, refusing to watch how close they were getting. Nines processors strained under the preconstructions of how their argument was going to go. In any of the cases, Nines was sleeping at Anderson’s tonight. No matter how he tried to navigate the conversations in those preconstructions to his advantage, it felt like he was missing a piece of information from Gavin… 

When the car parked itself, Gavin shot out and ran up to the building. Nines sighed, rolling his shoulders in hopes of removing some of the stress. No such luck. 

The door was ajar when he finally made his way up. Gavin was banging around in the kitchen, slamming cupboards and drawers. Nines didn’t say a thing, entering and locking the door behind him. He leaned against the opening to the kitchen, watching his human be as loud as possible. Gavin opened things only to close them harshly, trying to get out all the anxiety and rage. 

“You done?” Nines asked, Gavin breathing heavy in front of the stove, on the other side of the island. Gavin turned around slowly, placing flat palms on the granite top, head hanging low in shame.

“You were right,” Gavin admitted heavily. 

“I was,” Nines said with no heat. 

Gavin’s head flicked up, annoyed. “Yes. You were. But I never said I was gay.”

Nines took a moment to process that statement. The implications of what he said increased the chance that this wouldn’t dissolve into a horrible mess of a night. “I thought you were…?”

Gavin shrugged. “Between all the fucking, arrests and sappy shit, it never really came up, I guess?”

“So you’re bisexual?” Ninse asked cautiously. 

Gavin nodded. “Dated a woman before you.”

Nines thought back to any of the gender pronouns Gavin used with his past partners and found that none existed. They were simply ‘partners’, ‘assholes’, ‘sons of bitches’ and Nines’ personal favorite, ‘cunt lickers’. 

“How many of each sex have you dated?” Nines asked. 

“Does it fucking matter? Don’t think I’m really gonna have anymore,” Gavin blushed, covering his eyes with his hand again. “Fuck, that slipped out. Cut that out of your memory.”

Nines smiled to himself, pushing off the wall to get a little closer to his human. “Trying to butter me up?” He asked, draping himself over the island, supporting his chin with his hand. 

The blush deepened. “No. Been talking all day it feels like. Slipped out,” he mumbled the last part. 

“Uh-huh… How many other women, Gavin?”

“Does it matter? It didn’t matter before,” Gavin’s hand slipped away from his eyes, though he didn’t meet Nines’. The heavy silence was the human's answer. “Three. Obviously none of them worked out, all for the same reason.”

“The job,” Nines answered for him. Gavin nodded sadly. 

“It takes everything from you, sometimes,” Gavin whispered, going down to his elbows on the cold stone, forehead on thumbs. “I’m glad they didn’t work at the end of the day, but things have been said that… should never have been.”

Nines reached across, massaging Gavin’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about telling me… unless you want to?”

Gavin shook his head. “No point in dredging the past up like that.”

“If I may, to be more transparent with my emotions as we’ve discussed before,” Nines pulled back, Gavin looking up at him as he straightened against the island. 

“Oh, this should be fucking gold.”

“I…” Nines mulled on how to say it. “I was jealous.”

Gavin’s face split into a sarcastic smile. “No shit, Sherlock.” 

“I wanted to self destruct or kill, mame, rather than watch you look at her like that. The way you look at me. I wanted to hurt you, make you feel as horrific as I did. I apologize for what I said.”

Gavin’s smile faltered. A nervous hand ran through his hair. “Fuck,” he whispered. “Look, Nines, I’m sorry,” Gavin properly apologized too. “It was a split second. I’m still a man who finds women attractive. I can’t promise it won’t--”

Nines waved a hand, cutting him off. “No. Please stop. The more time we spent with Ms. Goldsmith this morning, the more I understood. Her face is pleasantly symmetrical, her… physical form is well defined to show youth and beauty. I think, now knowing what I know, as a man whose sexuality also finds preference in women, I would be shocked if you hadn’t reacted.”

Gavin was struck dumb, mouth hanging open. He pushed himself back, shocked. “That is the best way any of my male partners have handled that,” he stated dumbfounded. “Was expecting more of a blow up, to be honest. They’d always yell about lack of tits then we… that’s actually usually the start of the end.” Gavin’s eyes glossed over, recalling his past relationships. 

“She also has a dominant personality that is present in the way she holds herself,” Nines continued, a teasing smirk on his face to assure Gavin he was joking. “A type you seem to favor?”

Gavin came back to himself, going beet red. Target struck dead on. “Oh fuck, come on Nines! I didn’t even  _ see _ that!”

“Your hindbrain did.”

Gavin groaned, laying back over the countertop. “Gonna make the trial tomorrow worse than it's already going to be.”

“I would never compromise a case,” Nines insisted. 

“Yeah, ok whatever,” Gavin muttered, reaching blindly for the drawer handle. He opened it and pulled out his favorite sushi restaurant menu that delivered. 

“I’ll go pick out a movie,” Nines muttered, leaving Gavin to order his meal. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The trial has been cancelled today. Sorry for the late notice, please file out of the room carefully.”
> 
> Shocked, the Detectives looked at one another. “Cancelled?!” Gavin hissed, getting to his feet. “What the hell happened?”

Gavin sat with all the others in the courtroom. The trial should have started twenty minutes ago, but… nothing. Nines was even starting to get twitchy. Fingers sliding against each other, sensitive tongue licking his lips as he looked around. 

Suddenly the side door leading to the judges room opened. “The trial has been cancelled today. Sorry for the late notice, please file out of the room carefully.”

Shocked, the Detectives looked at one another. “Cancelled?!” Gavin hissed, getting to his feet. “What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know… I’m sure we can ask Ms. Goldsmith next time we see her.”

“If she’ll give up that information,” Gavin reminded him, leading them back out. 

“Detective Nines?” A meeker male voice called out. “Detective Reed?”

They turned to see a younger man, dressed well but still clearly in school. 

“I work for Alex. She said to come grab you.”

“Lead the way,” Gavin waved.

They followed the law student to the back, deposited into a seperate room, though Nines could hear familiar voices talking in the adjacent room. 

“Thank you, your honor,” Alex said as the door was suddenly opened and just as quickly closed. “Hello, Detectives. Sorry, but Mister Davis reached a plea deal with the FBI that cut today's plans off.”

“A plea-- with the FBI? What the hell do they want with him?” Gavin demanded.

“I had reason to believe, based on the subtext of what he said to you, Detective Reed, while he was being arrested, that he had something to do with the larger red ice ring that is being investigated. I pointed it out to someone who was working on the task force and they investigated it deeper, found a thin connection that might mean an in for them.”

Nines went back through his memories of the day, startling at the last sentence Davin said as a part of his useless confession. “ _ Those kids were just proof that we can make him whole again _ ,” Nines recounted perfectly. 

Alex nodded. “The FBI stepped in after our meeting yesterday when they realized the trial was coming together faster than they’d planned for. Davis took the plea deal and will be working with them to garner more information. Don’t be alarmed if you see false news released around today, to trick the red ice ring.”

Nines nodded slowly. “It makes sense.”

“Fucking asshole is going to get a lighter sentence and he murdered his own fucking kids,” Gavin growled, throwing himself back into his chair, upset. 

“I know,” Alex said, regretfully. “Hopefully getting all that red ice off the streets saves someone elses kids as well,” she said, trying to track the Detective in another direction. 

“Yeah… Fuckers smart… Waiting till the last moment like this.”

Alex shrugged. “The timing is on the Feds, but I understand the sentiment. Regardless, sorry for dragging you out here so early in the morning. You are free to go back to work. From this point on, the FBI will be the point of contact so if they reach out, don’t be alarmed.”

Nines stood, shaking Alex’s hand. “Thank you, Ms. Goldsmith.”

“No problem at all. Have a great rest of your days, Detectives.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He says no to you?!” Gavin demanded, unable to believe what he was hearing. 
> 
> Connor waved a non committal hand through the air. “He hasn’t outright said no, but… it feels like he is.”

Gavin brooded at his desk, ignoring the glances that Connor was shooting his way. The idea that Davis would be getting away with such a grizzly crime left a sour taste in his mouth. Sure, it happened when lawyers tried to get the best deal for the public at large, but seeing the leaner sentences on the assholes never sat right with Gavin. The public nodded and agreed with the story they were fed, happy to accept that the information was worth ten less years or a skip straight to parole. He just didn’t see it that way. 

And his day had to get fucking worse, didn’t it?

“Reed, Nines!” Captain Fowler called from his office door. “Get in here!”

Nines pauses mid conversation with Miller, cocking his head at Gavin. He shrugged, having no idea why the Captain wanted them. 

“Close the door, please,” he said, turning on the wall of monitors. 

“—see here, Mister Davis is walking free today. The reports say his lawyers found faulty handling of evidence by the investigators, who names haven’t been released as of yet. Mister Davis is said to still be charged with other minor violations, but the main charges against him have been dropped. In other news, in Detroit today—“

Fowler muted, scrubbing a hand over his face. “The Feds released the report before I could get a hold of you two. Looks like the cover they’re going for is mishandling evidence, as you heard. I expect the proper levels of cursing and pissed off behavior to follow leaving the office.”

“Why the fuck did they go with that fucking story?!” Gavin shouted out, knowing he was going to take the flack. Nines couldn’t mess up. “That shits on me, man!”

“It’s a wayward peace offering to the red ice ring leader,” Nines said, catching the humans attention. His eyes were distant, LED spinning a lazy yellow as he processed his thoughts. 

“What the hell does that mean?” Gavin demanded. 

“Mister Davis wasn’t completely reconciled with the justice system, but the worst of it was mitigated. I wonder if he’s related to the ring leader…” Nines mused. 

“You’re off the case, Nines, stop thinking on it,” Fowler ordered. 

Nines stood a little straighter, Gavin rolling his eyes. “Yes, sir.”

“Now, get back to work.”

Gavin sulked back to his desk, Connor glancing between the office and him. 

“What the fuck do you want?”

Connor got to his feet. “Come on.”

Gavin knew his eyes must be bugging out, having just taken his seat again “What?”

“Let's take a walk,” he said, coming around.

“Fucker, fine,” Gavin angrily ripped his jacket off the back of his chair, following Connor outside. The android headed for the parking lot, slowing down a little to give Gavin a chance to catch up. Tall fuckers. 

“What’s all this about, Connor?” Gavin demanded. 

“I can read lips and the local media report,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “How are you doing?”

“Davis is working with the Feds on the red ice ring we lost control of. ‘Parently he has some skin in there and they want him as an informant and they pinned the bad case on me.” Gavin shrugged. “I know I didn’t do it, so I don’t care.”

Connor nodded. “Nines mentioned that.”

“Then why fucking ask me?”

Connor looked down his nose at Gavin. “You needed to talk. You pin everything inside till you explode. Didn’t want it to be on me, this time. Regardless of what I know, it's what you want to say that matters here.”

Gavin kicked at the gravel of the black top. “Fucking… whatever. Got your talk.”

Connor leaned against Anderson’s old ass car, pointing with his chin at Gavin to take the space next to him. Shoving his own hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, the human took the offered spot. The partners stayed standing, Gavin slowly freezing but refusing to cave first. 

“Can I ask a personal question, Gavin?” Connor asked. Gavin peered up at him, shrugging. 

“Knock yourself out.”

“Who asked who out?”

Gavin chuckled, looking up at the sky. “I did. I had too. Don’t think Nines would ever ask, to be honest. Didn’t want to ‘force himself’ on to me like that.”

Connor nodded slowly. “Makes sense. How did you know?”

Gavin barked out a laugh. “The fucking blind could see it, are you kidding me?!”

“I didn’t,” Connor admitted. “But that’s not the point. He liked you almost right away. What made you fall for him in return?”

Gavin thought about that for a moment. “Hard to say. It would be easy to answer that the fucker wormed his way in and never left… but it would be wrong to say. More like… no matter how many walls I threw up… he was relentless, more so than anyone else I’d ever met. I normally chase after my partners, so it was a little different to have that intensity turned on only me. You fuckers have a one track mind.”

Connor was completely still, LED a light show. “I see. Was he subtle?”

“Not to me,” Gavin said with a snort. “He threw back all my sarcasm and jokes. Didn’t get easily offended and… we worked really well together, no matter how angry that made me at first. It was like being able to breathe for the first time when I admitted to myself what it was that we were working ourselves towards. He moved in the week after that.”

Connors shoe tapped against the gravel of the pavement needing a new layer of black stone soon. “How did you ask?”

“Huh?”

“How did you ask him?” Connor asked, glancing at him from the corner of his eyes. “Nines won’t tell me when I ask. Says its private.”

Gavin blushed, remembering the night well. “Kinda cornered him,” Gavin admitted. “Was dropping him off at Jericho, kinda blurted it out before the car came to a complete stop. He sat there for a long time, LED solid red… Then he just said ‘yes’ and left. Didn’t know what to do other than feel giddy and drive off.”

“What?” Connor demanded, shocked. “He left?!”

Gavin chuckled, smiling. “I was kinda in shock too. When I picked him up the next morning, he went into this long scripted speech apologizing for his ‘rash behavior’, that he hadn’t ‘anticipated the question and his systems froze’. Went on and on about how happy he was and couldn’t wait to make me happy and blah, blah, blah.”

Connor shook his head, smirking. “He didn’t want to tell me because it was sterile and I would have ribbed him for it.”

Gavin laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, something like that. Couldn’t get him to chill at home though. Fucker was clingy as all hell.”

Connor’s LED blinked red for a moment, catching Gavin’s eye. 

“Oh?” Connor asked, sounding a little guilty. 

Gavin shot him a look, curious at the tone. “Yeah… followed me like a lost puppy. Had to eventually sit him down and put up some boundaries.” 

Connor’s fingers fidgeted, playing the end of his grey suit jacket, similar to the one CyberLife had stuck him in before. “How did that work?” he asked quietly.

“I told him to get a hobby, live a little outside of our relationship. He was only six months old at that point and I could see all the signs of complete dependency and I don’t deal well in those kinds of relationships. They suffocate me. 

“He went and did his own thing for a while. We eventually settled around a new norm and… kinda went from there.” He didn’t think he’d hinted and the apparent hundred of hours of porn Nines had gone through to find his taste… or the cage. 

Connor nodded, LED landing on yellow. Gavin felt this was closer to the reason Connor dragged him out here. Like hell Gavin needed to fucking talk about some shit case. 

“Why? Is there something going on with you and Anderson?”

Connor’s eyes shot up to his hairline, LED red, “what? No.”

Gavin glared at him. “You two aren’t as sneaky as you think you are.”

“No, no. You don’t understa--”

Gavin cut in. “Seems fairly cut and dry to me. No need to get all huffy over--”

“He doesn’t want it,” Connor cut him off. Gavin’s jaw hung open in shock, unable to believe the earnest raw emotion there. Connor bit his lip, hanging his head. 

“Excuse me?” Gavin asked, incredulous. 

Connor crossed his arms over his chest, sinking into himself a little. “Looks like we followed many of the same beats as you and Nines but… everytime I try to have the relationship conversation, Hank wiggles out of it or has said ‘no’.”

“He says  _ no _ to  _ you _ ?!” Gavin demanded, unable to believe what he was hearing. 

Connor waved a non committal hand through the air. “He hasn’t outright said no, but… it feels like he is.”

Gavin blew a low whistle, sitting back against the car. “Shit. Would have assumed that you’ve been fucking for awhile now.”

“We have,” Connor said, blush on his cheeks and not from the cold. 

Gavin pushed away from the car, unable to be still with all that was being dropped on him. “Then what the fuck?”

“I don’t… I don’t know,” Connor admitted. “I know he isn’t saying no because of what I am, he clearly doesn’t care that I'm an android. But he cares deeply about the title or label. He panics and runs out of the room.”

“Don’t corner him then,” Gavin warned. “Don’t go getting ideas from my story. He’d kill me.”

Connor rolled his eyes, “he’d never know.”

“Till Nines opens that big mouth of his on the similarities of the stories.”

Connor bounced his head side to side, agreeing. “I just don’t know what else to do.”

Getting a horrible idea, he smiled evilly up at Connor. The android frowned, shaking his head. “I don’t like whatever thought you just came to the conclusion on.”

“Make him jealous.”

LED back to red, Connor got to his feet. “That’s not the way to go about it, Reed. How could you even suggest that?! He’d only pull away further!”

Gavin shrugged. “Or, and hear me out, he’ll realize his feelings for you in the middle of all of it. Get one of the four from Jericho to play pretend, Nines has mentioned you go there often.”

“No, Gavin,” Connor shot him down, turning away from him. “He already believes he isn’t right for me… that would only cause him to sink deeper into the mental hole he’s dug himself into.’

Gavin rolled his eyes. “Then go cold turkey on him. Don’t give him a thing.”

Connor’s LED dropped down to yellow, peering around his shoulder at Gavin. “What do you mean?”

“If you aren’t going to pretend to date someone, then don’t give him anything at all. He’ll get all confused on the switch in behavior and knowing him, will come crawling, asking what he did.”

Connor turned back around, seeming to consider it. “That scenario does show more favorable odds…”

“You fuckers and your odds, forget the odds! Relationships are hard and there's gray area, more than black and white numbers. Give Hank a taste of his own medicine, rebuff and the cold shoulder, all that shit.”

Connor nods slowly, “Thank you, Gavin. I’ll try that.”

“Yeah, don’t mention it. Seriously, don’t. Keep my name out of your mouth.”

Connor chuckled, shaking his head. “Come on, it's cold.”

“Cold as fucking tits! Thank god, let’s go!”


End file.
